Author: pissarroavenger

In 2030, it is going to be the 200th anniversary of Camille Pissarro’s birth in Charlotte Amalia. One of the goals of this blog is to explore ways to to celebrate this occasion. We want to take this obscure St. Thomas secret and make it a widely celebrated occasion.

Like many merchant families in the 1800s, the Pissarros lived above their store.  The picture of the sign on the building where they lived and conducted their business  (photo above) is one of the few bits of evidence that Camille Pissarro grew up in St. Thomas and started his career as an artist here.

In the 1830’s St Thomas was a tropical version of a California boomtown during the Gold Rush.

Strategically located on a trade route that formed a triangle between Europe, Latin America and the United States, the island flourished as a free port since the eighteenth century, but competition was cut-throat and the Pissarros were only second-tier businessmen.  Merchant sailing ships from a dozen nations anchored in Charlotte Amalie’s harbor to load and unload goods.  Pissarro loved to sketch all the activities, but the dollars and cents of it completely eluded him

It was a strange place for a boy who had no interest in commerce to live.

“I wanted my freedom from the start.  I did not wish to go to school and would have preferred to walk through the streets of the city, skirting the harbor, making my way to the shore so I could study the waves, sand, birds, light. That was my library.”

“I liked to be with everyday people, watching them work, especially at the docks, where there was a riot of color, and a rush of great excitement every time a ship arrived, for that was the way the world came to us and woke us up with the news and events and people.”

“We had small lives here. Each group stayed to themselves.”

~Quotes from The Marriage of Opposites, by Alice Hoffman.  This is a great book if you are interested in the Pissarro family and in particular, Camille Pissarro’s mother, Camille, his family, a scandal and life in St. Thomas. https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Opposites-Alice-Hoffman/dp/1451693605

 

 

Secret St. Thomas is dedicated to one of the most famous Impressionists, often called the father of Impressionism and the First Impressionist.

He was born and grew up on St. Thomas, yet his life here is not widely publicized or promoted on the island.  This makes Camille Pissarro St. Thomas’ biggest well-kept secret.

We will explore the Pissarro family’s life on St. Thomas as the first in-depth topic of this blog.  Camille Pissarro’s Mother, Rachael was known more for her scandals than for her secrets, but to understand her, one needs to reflect on St. Thomas in the early 1800s.

There was mainly one reason people came to St. Thomas—to make money, to get rich.  Commerce thrived because St. Thomas was a freeport and strategically situated to be a booming trading, shipping and distribution center.  A large portion of all West Indies trade moved through its bustling Charlotte Amalie harbor.

The Pissarro family came for commerce.  Camille left for art.

I came to St. Thomas to discover my inner mermaid and to create a life that revolved around the secrets of St. Thomas.  To me, this meant learning to relax, to enjoy the sun and sand and to get suntan lines that never faded.